The present invention relates generally to vending machines, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for encouraging vending machine customers to review a marketing promotion or to participate in a survey while making a purchase.
Customers are frequently inundated with unsolicited marketing promotions and attempts to solicit responses regarding their preferences or opinions in the form of a survey. Marketers are constantly searching for new techniques and promotions for encouraging customers to respond to such marketing promotions and surveys. For example, marketers frequently reward a prospective customer for reviewing a marketing promotion or for responding to a survey. While a number of marketers have successfully encouraged customers to participate in such marketing efforts, many customers nonetheless ignore such marketing efforts in view of their busy schedules, and the overwhelming number of similar marketing promotions to which they are exposed.
Frequently, the marketer and the prospective customer meet in a face-to-face environment. Thus, the reward can be offered and accepted, and the marketing promotion or survey can be implemented, as part of the same transaction. Increasingly, however, marketers are utilizing techniques which do not depend on face-to-face interaction, such as promotions delivered by means of a telemarketer, or techniques which eliminate a live person entirely, for example, where the marketing promotion is delivered by (or solicits responses using) an interactive voice response unit (IVRU) or a stand-alone kiosk.
Although the elimination of a live person from many marketing promotions has undoubtedly reduced costs, there have been a number of negative implications as well. For example, the absence of a live person makes it more difficult for the marketer to efficiently reward the prospective customer for participating in the marketing effort. In addition, without the pressure of a live person to encourage customer participation, many people find it easier to decline to participate in the marketing promotion. Furthermore, without the presence of a live person, there is no guarantee that an unscrupulous user will not use the system repeatedly, for example, until a prize is awarded, or to influence the results of a survey. Finally, when a marketing promotion is delivered by an interactive voice response unit (IVRU) or a stand-alone kiosk, in exchange for a reward, there is no guarantee that the customer is even paying attention.
The problems and costs associated with current methods for encouraging participation in a marketing promotion are not limited to marketers. Even from the customer""s point of view, conventional techniques are unsatisfactory. Many customers are frustrated from participating in marketing efforts because promotional rewards cannot be supplied instantly. Rather, customers are often required to wait while promotional rewards are sent to them, usually via mail. In fact, if the incentives associated with participation were offered at times when customer could instantly realize the benefits of their earned reward, customers would be more likely to participate.
As apparent from the above deficiencies with conventional attempts to encourage customer participation in marketing efforts, a need exists for a method and system that allows a marketer to more efficiently and effectively deliver marketing promotions and solicit responses from customers about preferences or opinions. A further need exists for a system that rewards customers at a time when the customer is likely to be receptive. Yet another need exists for a vending machine that effectively utilizes time spent by a customer waiting for a vending machine transaction to be completed.
Generally, according to one aspect of the invention, a vending machine method and apparatus are disclosed for encouraging vending machine customers to review a marketing promotion or to participate in a survey while making a purchase. According to another aspect of the invention, customers are immediately rewarded for providing responses about their preferences or opinions, or about the marketing promotion that was previously presented.
The present invention solves the above-identified problems by permitting customers to participate in a marketing promotion while making a purchase at a vending machine, and to receive a reward for such participation. The present invention recognizes that customers making a purchase at a vending machine are xe2x80x9ccaptive audiencesxe2x80x9d for marketing opportunities.
Customers are rewarded for providing responses about their preferences or opinions in the form of a survey, or for reviewing a marketing promotion and correctly answering a question about the promotion. The reward may be, for example, a supplementary product, a discount on the customer""s current purchase or a subsequent purchase, or a rebate. Another aspect of the invention ensures that the vending machine contains sufficient currency and products to meet the requirements of all active offers. In one implementation, the vending machine periodically or intermittently adjusts the xe2x80x9cactivexe2x80x9d status of each reward offer to ensure that the vending machine contains a sufficient amount of each currency type for an active currency-based reward and a sufficient inventory of each product for an active product-based reward.
Another aspect of the invention ensures that buyers are committed to making a purchase, before offering a reward to a customer. Thus, the present invention discourages an unscrupulous customer from repeatedly collecting rewards or influencing the results of a survey without making a purchase. The actual marketing promotion presented to a customer can be based on the customer""s current or previous product selection(s) or purchase history.
A more complete understanding of the present invention, as well as further features and advantages of the present invention, will be obtained by reference to the following detailed description and drawings.